Missouri Town Is Outraged Over Pit Bull Roundup

The small southern Missouri town of Sikeston is outraged over a Pit Bull roundup that took place there earlier this week, according to Fox 2.

Under Sikeston's current breed-discriminatory ordinance, the city can seize dogs that have no reports against them -- or might not even be Pit Bulls, but just look like them.

Sikeston even seized dogs from families, including Yulonda Mitchell’s. She said officers took her brother's dogs, which she believed were Bulldogs.

"We did everything, you know, complied with the city ordinance, but they still wanted to remove the dogs,” she said.

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Yulonda Mitchell.

Mitchell then told reporters that officers weren't doing anything about all the stray dogs running around -- which, indeed, were running around during her news segment -- because they don't fall under the breed-discriminatory ordinance. And officers can't catch them.

“I said, 'why don't you guys get those dogs?' They say, 'Well, those dogs are just too smart for us. We can't catch 'em.'”

One woman, Holly Job, stopped officers from taking her Pit Bull, but only after a fight. According to Fox 2, "she complied with a long list of regulations that only apply to Pit Bulls in Sikeston: put up a ‘beware of dog’ sign, get insurance, put a hard collar on the dog, take multiple pictures, and so on."

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Holly Job with two of her dogs.

Because the seized Pit Bulls faced immediate euthanasia, a local shelter swung into action, shipping 35 shelter dogs away from Sikeston to make room for the influx of Pit Bulls, allowing them to live, for now.

SEMO Animal Rescue Alliance and Paws New England took in dogs, as did other private rescue groups. A day before the roundup, Five Acres Animal Shelter in St. Charles went up to Sikeston and took in a "bunch" of dogs, which will soon be available for adoption, according to its Facebook page.

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One of the shelter dogs sent up to Five Acres to make room for the influx.

I urge you to repeal your breed-discriminatory ordinance, as Wentzville, Chesterfield, Town and Country and Manchester have recently done.

We all want safe and humane communities. People should be protected against all dangerous dogs, but seizure of a dog should be based on the dog’s behavior, not its appearance. Reckless owners should be prohibited from owning any dog.

I hope you will reunite the seized pets with their families.

The current policy is a waste of tax dollars and infringes on citizens’ property rights.